The home side, the closest rivals to unbeaten Pontypool for much of the season, had led 16-10 with five minutes to go and seemed set to hang on to second place. But then the students conjured up a try for Tom Benjamin which Tyler Williams heroically converted off the touchline to steal the victory.
That was only the fifth defeat for Tata this season and came on the same day that Pontypool made it 18 wins in a row and Narberth crept up from third place to move into second with a comprehensive 40-3 win at Glynneath
Skewen pulled off a dramatic comeback to beat Bedlinog 25-21 in a thrilling clash that saw them leapfrog the Foxes into fifth in the table. The hosts had trailed 21-3 at half-time after visiting skipper Nathan Huish had crossed twice and Sam Farrer had added a third try.
But it was a different story in the second half after giant lock Oliver Thompson instigated the comeback with an early second-half try from a driving maul.
Jordan Adderley added a second try for Skewen a few minutes later and then Anthony Buselli kicked a second penalty to go with his two conversions. That cut the gap to a single point to allow Richard Davies to seal what seemed like an unlikely home win with the matchwinning try 15 minutes from time.
The Otters led 12-3 at the break, but dominated the second half to add four more tries to take their match tally to six to pick up a full-set of points. That put them three points clear of Tata Steel in the runners-up position ahead of their trip to face them on 1 April.
Cardiff Met get the honour of hosting Pontypool on 25 March in a fixture that will see the Gwent club clinch the title with three games left to play if they post a 19th successive victory. Last weekend’s routine 53-5 win over Newcastle Emlyn kept them 17 points clear of second place with four games left to play.
Nathan Brooks scored three of the home side’s eight tries and outside half Matthew Jones got another to go with his five conversions and penalty to make it 18 points on the day. Other tries came from Alex Watkins, Richard East, Rhodri Usher and Aaron Quick.
Newbridge pulled off the result of the week with a 28-24 triumph at home over a Beddau side that had beaten them 24-3 on their own patch earlier in the season. Tries from Scott Williams, Stuart Vokes, Luke Morgan and Rory Budenna helped the home side build up a 28-10 lead before Beddau bit back to claim a losing-bonus thanks to a late try from Adam Ashford.
Glamorgan Wanderers edged out basement boys Dunvant, 26-19, in a tight battle at Broadacre. Mark Robbins put the hosts ahead before Darren Ryan replied with a Wanderers try.
Gareth Davies then put Dunvant back into the lead with a second try, but the conversion from James Davies struck the uprights. A Dan Aspee try and Luke Fish conversion gave the visitors’ the lead at the beak.
Fish then crossed for a third Wanderers try, which he also converted, before Peter Lloyd snatched a line-out to crash over for the bonus-point. Sam Crowley kept the visitors sweating with another Dunvant try, but it wasn’t enough to complete the fightback.
